Chris Marrs Piliero opens his debut feature Appofeniacs with a definition, but he spends the rest of the film showing us exactly what it means. Equal parts horror, satire, and jet-black comedy, this anthology-style thriller hooks you from the opening scene and never lets go.
Piliero, an award-winning music video director turned filmmaker, proves he has a sharp eye for lighting and framing. Every scene feels carefully composed yet lived in, each shot infused with tension or humor that keeps the viewer locked in. Even the quietest moments, the frogs and crickets of the desert night, turn haunting under his direction.
The film thrives on its conversations, which feel ripped straight from real life. At one point, a character quips that “the Winslows have become the Urkels,” a perfect encapsulation of our phone-obsessed culture. These small exchanges are as riveting as the bursts of violence, grounding the heightened chaos in something authentic. Piliero’s dialogue and character work recall early Tarantino or the Coen Brothers: unpredictable personalities, intertwining storylines, and a sense that everything is going to go spectacularly off the rails.
Each actor feels utterly at home in their role, as if they’re playing an unfiltered version of themselves. Sean Gunn pops up in a standout vignette, but the whole ensemble shines. Simran Jehani brings both warmth and edge to Poppy, while Will Brandt’s Texas Tim is strangely endearing. But it’s Michael Abbott Jr. as Banks who steals the show. His performance is downright frightening, ruthless, and unpredictable, with shades of Charles Manson or Bill Moseley’s Otis from The Devil’s Rejects. Whenever he’s on screen, you can’t look away.
The violence is brutal and unflinching. Eyes pop, blood sprays, and bodies crumple in ways that feel shocking because the characters are so fleshed out. These aren’t disposable horror victims; they’re people you’ve spent time with, making each kill hit harder. And while some deaths lean into a bit of camp (cosplay weapons as murder tools), the sheer commitment makes them work. At times, the blood-soaked chaos even evokes Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive in its gleeful excess.
Adding to the tension is a sharp score, co-composed by Piliero and Sean Wing. Sparse guitar plucks sneak in during high-strung moments, needling the audience’s nerves and keeping them curious about what’s coming next. By the time the credits roll to the band’s original song “Eat My Face,” it feels like the perfect exclamation point on the madness.
Appofeniacs is as topical as it is entertaining. With deepfakes and AI looming larger in the news cycle every day, the film weaponizes those fears and twists them into something both clever and terrifying. Piliero shows us how fragile reality can feel when manipulated through technology, and how quickly paranoia can spread.
At 89 minutes, the pacing never lags. Each vignette is just as compelling as the last, and the way they thread back together is both satisfying and unnerving. It’s raw, nerve-wracking, violent, and funny, a modern example of how to weave multiple storylines into one bloody, interconnected script.
Clever, violent, and unpredictable, Appofeniacs is a ride best experienced on the big screen. It grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the final drop of blood. And honestly, I can’t wait to rewatch it.
Jessie Hobson